Yankees Rally For 9th In Row

May 15, 1994|By Jon Heyman Newsday

MILWAUKEE — As the New York Yankees' luck would have it, the .334-career-hitting Wade Boggs was due up, the game was on the line and a statistical milestone was within reach. Was there any doubt? If ever there was a percentage play, this was it.

Predictably enough, Boggs became Saturday's hero on this team of rotating heroes. As usual, Boggs hit his mark, driving a go-ahead, two-run double to spark a five-run ninth inning that gave the Yankees a 6-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and extended their winning streak to nine games. It was Boggs' 2,300th career hit.

Three-plus hours into a dreary game on a dreary day, Boggs made it all worthwhile for the Yankees by driving reliever Bob Scanlan's pitch to right-center field with one out and the bases loaded. Brewers right fielder Matt Mieske appeared to reach Boggs' ball on the warning track but strangely did not bother to reach out to grab it before it bounced into the bleachers, scoring Bernie Williams and Gerald Williams to make it 3-2.

''It's a situation where if you don't produce you get fined in Kangaroo Court,'' Boggs said. ''I crushed that ball. I was surprised it didn't get out of the park. It must have been one of last year's balls.''

Before the ninth, the big play was a balk. Yankees starter Jim Abbott discontinued his windup with Turner Ward on third base in the fifth.